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Plasma bubble registration at altitudes of the topside ionosphere: Numerical evaluations

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Abstract

The possibility of registering a plasma bubble at altitudes of the topside ionosphere based on its minor species He+ were studied. The characteristic times of the main aeronomic and electrodynamic processes, in which a bubble and its ion component He+ are involved, were calculated and compared. The recombination processes of helium ions in a bubble, the vertical transfer of a plasma bubble as a whole, and the diffusion transfer of the plasma bubble minor constituent (He+) were considered. The characteristic times of ambipolar and transverse (Bohm) diffusion were calculated when the diffusion transfer was estimated. The effect of the photoionization processes on plasma bubble dissipation were estimated based on the He+ bubble ion component. It was shown that the bubble filling characteristic time with an average He+ depletion to the He+ ambient density is ∼24 h. It was concluded that such a prolonged bubble lifetime makes it possible to register a plasma bubble reliably over approximately two days. However, it has been noted that only a residual plasma bubble structure, i.e., its trace visible in He+ ions, will apparently be registered during most prolonged observations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radiowave Propagation, Russian Academy of Sciences, Troitsk, Moscow oblast, 142190, Russia

    L. N. Sidorova & S. V. Filippov

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  1. L. N. Sidorova
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  2. S. V. Filippov
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Correspondence to L. N. Sidorova.

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Original Russian Text © L.N. Sidorova, S.V. Filippov, 2014, published in Geomagnetizm i Aeronomiya, 2014, Vol. 54, No. 3, pp. 355–364.

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Sidorova, L.N., Filippov, S.V. Plasma bubble registration at altitudes of the topside ionosphere: Numerical evaluations. Geomagn. Aeron. 54, 329–336 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793214030165

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